Heater for steam-boilers



H. SPENCE. Heater for Steam Boilers'.

b(N0 Model.)

Patented March 29,1881.

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N. PETERS. PHOTU-LFIHOGRAPMEH. WANINGTON, D C,

UNITED VSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

HAMILTON SPENOE, OF ST. HELENA, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN FRED. FISH HALE, OF CARLIN, NEVADA.

HEATER FOR STEAM-BOILERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 239,353, dated March 29, 1881.

l Application tiled July 2E), 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HAMILTON SPENCE, of St. Helena, Napa county, in the State of Galifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heaters for Boilers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description thereof', reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to that class of feed- Io water heaters in which the water is fed to a chamber located within the boiler, and thence permitted to pass into the main chamber of the boiler.V

In the practical application of this feed-water 1 5 chamber to a boiler I have discovered that when it is properly constructed the water in the chamber will stand at a higherlevel than that in the body of the boiler. I have therefore applied the name of fountain i to the chamber, zo and a boiler provided with the fountain I call a fountain-boiler. This fountain I locate at the point of lowest heat, or, in other words, where the heat finally leaves the tubes at the end nearest the stack or chimney. The object of this fountain is twofold: iirst, it prevents the freshly-introduced water from intermingling with the highly-heated water in the body of the boiler until its temperature has been raised in the fountain; and, secondly,it forms a 3c settling-chamber, in which anysediment or impurities contained in the water will be precipitated and deposited, so that incrustation of the boiler is prevented. lt also is advantageous in other particulars.

My invention also includes a steam-pipe of peculiar application for taking dry steam from the boiler and conducting it to the steam-dome, all as hereinafter more fully described.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 4o Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section.

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on a small scale. Inside of the boiler A, I construct a vertical partition, b, which I call the fountain-sheet.

In the locomotive or fire-box boiler I place this 4 5 partition or fountain-sheet, about three feet back from the front tubeesheet, C, at the combastion-chamber end of the boiler; but in a return-liuc boiler it is placed at about the same distance from the tube-sheet at the furnace end 5o ofthe boiler. The object of this is to form a chamber, M, at that end of the boiler where the heat makes its final escape from the tubes before going to the smoke-stack. The partition may either extend entirely from top to bottom of the boiler, as at Fig. l, or only a smallportion of the way, as represented at: Fig. 2. In either case the object and result are the same. When the partition extends entirely from top to bottom of the boiler, I make a horizontal slot or opening, c, in it, above the upper tubes, 6o through which the water will pass from the fountain-chamber to the boiler. This passage may be a simple opening, or it may be formed by overlapping the edges, as shown at Fig.l, in which latter case an upward movement of the water is obtained as it passes from the fountain into the body of the boiler. y

Thefeed-water pipe f termin ates in the foun tain, so that the water which feeds the boiler is delivered first into the chamber or fountain, 7o where its temperature causes it to settle downward through the system of tubes and become heated before it rises, and passes over into the body of the boiler through the slot or opening e. This delay or retention of the water in the fountain causes it to part with its impurities to a very great extent, so that it passes over into the main part of the boiler in a measure purified, while the impurities settle to the bottom of the fountain-chamber as a sediment, from 8o whence it can be blown out by a blow-off cock in the usual way. The pipes in this fountainchamber will not be as hot as those in the body of the boiler, owing to their distance from the furnace and to the continual supply of fresh 8 5 feed-water, so that the sediment which separates from the water will not be burned on them as a scale, as it does when the water is introduced directly into the boiler. A peculiar fact in connection with this chamber is, that the 9o height of the water in this chamber is constantly kept higher than the water-level in the boiler. Owing to this fact I have given it the name of fountain.7

Instead of making the partition b extend from top to bottom of the boiler, I can accomplish the same object and result, onlyin aless degree, by making two semi-partitions, one above the tubes and another below them, as shown at Fig. 2, leaving the spaces between 10o the tubes free to communicate with the boiler. This, however, is only adapted for that class of boilers in which the tubes do not extend down to the bottom of the boiler. Both of these arrangements break the currents of Water formed by the inowing feed-water of lower temperature, and keep the steam-generating portion in the main part of the boiler at a high and uniform temperature, so that I obtain the best results in steam-generating` capacity and economy of fuel. This arrangement is especially adapted for boilers in which water which is impregnated with alkali and other scale-forming impurities is contained. I have found it of great value on the plains, where alkali-water is used in the boilers, and in every case it has proven more economical than the ordinary boiler, and the tubes and boiler have been almost entirely free from scale or incrustation after several months use.

G is the steam-dome, from which steam is taken for running the engine. In order to supply this dome with dry steam I employ a perforated pipe, H, in the upper part of the boiler, the middle ot' which is connected, by a pipe, I, with the steam-dome. Thepipelpassesthrough the top of the boiler, so that the only passage for the steam from the boiler is through the perforated pipe H and the pipe I, and as the perforated pipe is supported in the upper part of the steam-space, where the steam is dry, the dome is supplied with dry steam.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. In a feed-water heater for boilers, the combination, with the boiler A, of the perforated partition or plate b e, subdividing the boiler into a chamber, M, at the combustionchamber end of the same, with a suitable supply-pipe, all constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with the steam-boiler A, with its steam-dome Gr, the perforated pipe H, connected with the dome G by apipe,I, which passes through the top of the boiler and termin ates in the dome, substantially as specified.

In .witness whereof I'have hereunto set my hand and seal.

HAMILTON SPENCE. 

